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Slave Trade Events to Mark the Bicentenary of the 1807 Act of Parliament

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Slave Trade Events to Mark the Bicentenary of the 1807 Act of Parliament Abolition of the Slave Trade Events to mark the bicentenary of the 1807 Act of Parliament February – November 2007 Picture from a lithograph of Ira Aldridge by Nicolas Barabas, 1853. © National Portrait Gallery, London Foreword Westminster and the transatlantic slave trade In 1807 Parliament passed an Act to make illegal Tues 6th March - Fri 3rd August Britain’s participation in the transatlantic trade in City of Westminster Archives Centre African people. However, slavery itself was not abolished in the British colonies until 30 years later. The practice was not outlawed in America The City of Westminster Archives Centre is mounting an until 1865 and in Brazil until 1888 and even today exhibition entitled Westminster and the Transatlantic Slave still exists in different forms around the world. Trade. Focusing on the impact of the slave trade at a local level, the exhibition draws on the Centre’s extensive archives Two hundred years on, Westminster City Council and local studies collections. The exhibition also documents the lives of the African residents of Westminster during the is supporting a programme of events throughout age of the slave trade. the year to remember the millions who suffered and the people who campaigned for abolition. Admission free Address: City of Westminster Archives Centre, 10 St Ann’s Street, We are pleased to present these free events which London, SW1P 2DE include films, walks and exhibitions. They are all Telephone: 020 7641 5180 designed to provide opportunities to learn more about Email: [email protected] the diverse heritage and culture of Westminster’s Web: www.westminster.gov.uk/libraries/archives communities and promote mutual understanding and Nearest tube station: St James’s Park, Victoria awareness of this heritage amongst today’s residents. Nearest railway station: Victoria Buses: 11, 24, 211 along Victoria Street; 88 along Great Smith Street; 507 along Horseferry Road Sir Simon Milton Leader of Westminster City Council An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, 1807 www.westminster.gov.uk/abolition 1 2 Ira Aldridge project Exhibition of images from the by CETTIE (Cultural Exchange Through Theatre Royal Geographical Society with IBG in Education) plus illustrated talks Tues 6th March, 6pm Westminster Libraries City of Westminster Archives Centre A powerful collection of photographs taken by colonial Shango Baku of CETTIE will present excerpts from Splendid officer Sir Harry Johnston between 1908-09 provides a rare Mummer, a monodrama based on the life of Ira Aldridge, glimpse of everyday life in Barbados, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica the Black 19th century Shakespearean actor and abolitionist and Trinidad at the turn of the century. The collection was at Westminster Archives. donated to the Royal Geographical Society’s archive by the Johnston family in 1933. Johnston was originally asked to Ira Aldridge was the first black actor to play Othello – at Covent visit the Caribbean by US President Theodore Roosevelt and Garden in 1833 but, although acclaimed in the provinces and his expressive images reveal an unfamiliar narrative from in Europe, in London he was the victim of a racist campaign these island communities. Some scenes depict Maroon in the press. settlements – towns where runaway slaves lived freely outside The presentation will be featured at the opening ceremony British rule in the Jamaican mountains, while others show of Westminster’s exhibition commemorating the Parliamentary aspects of daily life covering farming, religion and markets. Act to abolish the Slave Trade in 1807. Some of these images are on display in the Westminster Reference Library and others can be seen in Paddington Admission free Library. After this the full collection will be on display in Maida Vale Library. Each exhibition will feature an accompanying See address details on previous page. talk. See next pages for dates of exhibitions and talks. Women and abolition Fri 23rd March, 7pm Yaa Asantewaa Arts and Community Centre CETTIE in collaboration with Yaa Asantewaa presents Women and Abolition: an exploration of the role of women in the abolition movement. The event will include a panel debate, presentations by women activists, poetry and drama. Admission free Address: Yaa Asantewaa Arts and Community Centre, 1 Chippenham Mews, London, W9 2AN Telephone: 020 7286 1656 Email: [email protected] Web: www.yaaasant.demon.co.uk Nearest tube stations: Westbourne Park, Royal Oak Maroon Boys collecting wood, Jamaica, Harry Johnston, 1908-09 Image copyright of the RGS–IBG 3 4 Westminster Reference Library Paddington Library Exhibition Mon 19th March – Fri 13th April Exhibition Mon 19th March – Fri 13th April Talk by Steve Martin Thurs 22th March, 6.30 - 8pm Talk by Cliff Pereira Thurs 29th March, 6.30 - 8pm Illustrated talk Road to freedom on three continents Using the photographs taken by Sir Harry Johnston between An illustrated talk on free communities established by 1908-1909 this illustrated presentation will examine the impact formerly enslaved Africans on three continents. Cliff Pereira of Maroon history and culture on Jamaica society from looks at the establishment of ‘runaway slave’ settlements its origins in the 17th century to the present day. in South America, Africa and Asia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, tracing the origins of these communities Steve Martin and their legacies. Specialising in the fields of Black British history and literature, Cliff Pereira S I Martin is a writer and researcher who has undertaken Black history projects for numerous organisations including Cliff Pereira is a freelance history researcher, a Fellow of English Heritage, the National Maritime Museum, the the Royal Geographical Society, a committee Member Museum of London, several London boroughs and the BBC. of the Black and Asian Studies Association (BASA), He is the author of the novel Incomparable World and the a BASA consultant to the Royal Chatham Dockyard non-fiction title Britain’s Slave Trade. He is the founder of and a member of the Anglo-Portuguese Society. the 500 Years of Black London walking and boat tours. Cliff has published a biography of Thomas Stephens, Address: Westminster Reference Library, 35 St Martin’s Street, the first recorded Englishman in India, and conducted London, WC2H 7HP archival research on the Bombay Africans, presenting Telephone: 020 7641 1300 his work at international conferences. Email: [email protected] He is presently a consultant and researcher to the Royal Web: www.westminster.gov.uk/libraries/findalibrary Geographical Society on the Crossing Continents project Nearest tube stations: Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Charing Cross Address: Paddington Library, Porchester Road, London, W2 5DU Buses: 11, 24, 29, 176 or any that go to Trafalgar Square Telephone: 020 7641 1300 or Charing Cross Rd Email: [email protected] Web: www.westminster.gov.uk/libraries/findalibrary Nearest tube stations: Royal Oak, Bayswater Buses: 7, 23, 27, 36, 18 5 6 Maida Vale Library Film screenings Exhibition Mon 16th April – Tues 8th May Talk by Cliff Pereira Mon 16th April, 6.30 - 7.45pm Fri 23rd February, 12.30pm Afro-Asians National Portrait Gallery, Ondaatje Wing Theatre In 2007 the popular focus is on the Atlantic Slave Trade. This illustrated talk by Cliff Pereira looks at the older Double Bill Indian Ocean Slave trade that continued into the early years of the twentieth century. Cliff Pereira provides an overview of the routes and markets of this trade and A Son of Africa looks at the surviving communities of Africans in Asia. Dir Alrick Riley, 28 mins, 1996 To find out more about the archives of the Royal Geographical Society with IBG please visit www.rgs.org Olaudah Equiano was kidnapped into slavery from a West African village when he was 11 years old. He was taken to Address: Maida Vale Library, Sutherland Avenue, London, W9 2QT a Virginia plantation, fought for Britain in various wars, bought Telephone: 020 7641 1300 his own freedom, lived in Westminster in the 1780s and wrote Email: [email protected] his autobiography which became a sensational best seller. Web: www.westminster.gov.uk/libraries/findalibrary Nearest tube stations: Warwick Avenue, Maida Vale Buses: 6, 187, 414 The First Black Britons Dir Cath Sheehan, 60 mins, 2005 This fascinating film explores the hidden history of the enslaved Africans who fought for the British Army. From the 1790s onwards these men were forced to learn the English language, culture and customs and then sent back to Africa to fight other Africans. Some of them ended up living in Britain after their discharge where an act of Parliament established them as a new class of citizen - ‘Black British’. The films will be introduced by Tony Warner from 100 Black Men of London and there will be time for a discussion after the screening. Admission free – but please book a place by calling 020 7641 2498 or emailing [email protected] at least 24 hours before the event. DVDs will be available for sale on the day. Address: St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H OHE Web: www.npg.org.uk www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk/3.html Email: Enquiries about any of the films can be sent to [email protected] Nearest tube stations: Charing Cross, Leicester Square 7 8 Film screenings continued Sun 25th March, 2pm Thurs 31st May, 10am National Portrait Gallery, Ondaatje Wing Theatre Odeon Leicester Square Double Bill Slave Catchers Slave Resisters Catch a Fire Dir Judy Richardson, 100 minutes, 2005 Dir Menelik Shabaz, 30 mins, 1995 A unique documentary, which details the many ways in which This film charts the reasons for, and results of, the Morant Bay slaves resisted and fought back against the plantation owners. rebellion of 1865. Thirty one years after slavery was ‘abolished’ Slavery was built on a brutal system of slave policing - enforced Africans were still forced to live in slave-like conditions and by armed community patrols, paid slave catchers, and discrimination continued.
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